Water belly altitude disease, also known as ascites, results in the fluid build-up in the abdomen of birds, particularly chickens. While exacerbated at high altitude, chickens reared at moderate and low altitude can also develop the disease. While not contagious, according to WorldPoultry.net, mortality ranges from 0.5 to 20 percent of the flock. The disease affects males more than females.
Symptoms
Clinical symptoms of water belly altitude disease include abdominal distension due to fluid buildup, labored and gasping breathing sounds, high blood pressure and in severe cases, a bluish appearance on the combs and feet. These symptoms all rapidly lead to heart failure. Affected birds appear smaller than the rest of the flock, and have decreased activity levels and ruffled feathers. Postmortem lesions include an enlarged right heart valve, nodules and clots in the lung, a scarred, mottled, gray and shrunken liver, swelling and bleeding in the heart. In addition, the abdominal cavity contains large amounts of straw-colored fluid or ascites.
Causes
Several factors contribute to the development of water belly altitude disease in poultry including cold temperatures during brooding, excess dietary salt levels and genetic factors, or anything that decreases the amount of oxygen in the air such as high altitude, noxious fumes, respiratory diseases or a rapidly growing population in a small environment. Lack of oxygen, or hypoxia, leads to ascites development by causing increased blood pressure or pulmonary hypertension. Pulmonary hypertension causes major heart valve problems leading to the back flow of blood in the heart and fluid build-up, or ascites, in tissues.
Prevention
Most treatment protocols rely in prevention techniques such as adequate temperature control, good air quality and quantity, growth size management, reduced sodium content of diet, and water, feed and/or light restriction. All these measures help ensure proper poultry population size and adequate oxygen levels to prevent hypoxia. Susceptibility to water belly altitude disease occurs mostly at 5 to 7 weeks of age.
Other Animals
While water belly altitude disease mostly affects poultry, other animals can also develop it, but by an entirely different mechanism. For example. male sheep and occasionally breeding rams, cattle and other range animals develop urinary calculi, or water belly. In this case, small stones develop in the urinary tract leading to urine retention and bladder eruption. Humans may also develop ascites, but the term water belly altitude disease mainly refers to the disease that affects the poultry population.
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